Lumumba

2000 ""

Lumumba

7.2 | 1h55m | en | Drama

The true story of the rise to power and brutal assassination of the formerly vilified and later redeemed leader of the independent Congo, Patrice Lumumba. Using newly discovered historical evidence, Haitian-born and later Congo-raised writer and director Raoul Peck renders an emotional and tautly woven account of the mail clerk and beer salesman with a flair for oratory and an uncompromising belief in the capacity of his homeland to build a prosperous nation independent of its former Belgian overlords. Lumumba emerges here as the heroic sacrificial lamb dubiously portrayed by the international media and led to slaughter by commercial and political interests in Belgium, the United States, the international community, and Lumumba's own administration; a true story of political intrigue and murder where political entities, captains of commerce, and the military dovetail in their quest for economic and political hegemony.

WATCH FREEFOR 30 DAYS

All Prime Video
Cancel anytime

Watch Now

7.2 | 1h55m | en | Drama , History | More Info

Released: May. 13,2000 | Released Producted By: ARTE France Cinéma , Canal+ Country: Haiti Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

Stream Online

The movie is currently not available onine

Cast

Ériq Ebouaney , Alex Descas , Théophile Sowié

Director

André Fonsny

Producted By

ARTE France Cinéma , Canal+

Watch Free for 30 Days

All Prime Video Movies and TV Shows. Cancel anytime.

Watch Now

Trailers & Images

Cast

Ériq Ebouaney

as Patrice Émery Lumumba

Ritual Rogue City Earth and Blood Domino Belleville Cop China Salesman Bastille Day Mother(s) 3 Days to Kill

Alex Descas

as Joseph Mobutu

Irma Vep Let the Sunshine In Maya Chocolat Bastards The Limits of Control 35 Shots of Rum Rapt Persecution

Théophile Sowié

as Maurice Mpolo

If You Saw His Heart Lumumba

Reviews

kuikeelc I have just seen Lumumba and I think it was disgusting.The basic storyline is the formation of the first democratically elected government of Congo, but this attempt is sabotaged by external (mainly Belgian) and internal Congo forces.Lumumba is being remembered as a hero, but Mr.Peck seems to be able to rewrite history and make it seem like his execution was Lumumba Patrice his own damn fault.As a viewer you have absolutely no clue why people hate him in the end, why the people around him leave him and he is left alone. You are lead to believe that this was because of his nationalistic lectures he held in government and you can almost(!) understand why his opponents wanted to kill him.Mobutu is pictured as somebody that (with Belgian help) was just trying to restore order at high costs. No, I don't know what mr.Peck was trying to tell with this movie, but I can't imagine this was his goal. I guess he was trying to tell his opinion, but this movie tells the story so badly that I have my doubts if he in fact wasn't trying to tell something else....

imxo To answer the question of a previous reviewer who asked the name of the U.S. official mentioned in "Lumumba", the name of the character is "Mr. Carlucci." Frank Carlucci is reported as having been at that time Second Secretary at the U.S. Embassy in the Congo. Subsequently, among other assignments, he was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Portugal, Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Secretary of Defense, and is now the Chairman of the Carlyle Group. It's hardly surprising that Carlucci's biographical sketch on his www.carlylegroup.com web site fails to credit his service in the Belgian Congo. If his name was deliberately censored from the HBO version of "Lumumba" it may have been to avoid the possibility of HBO's being sued in U.S. courts. Carlucci's name, however, is clearly mentioned in the theatre version of "Lumumba" that I saw recently. In the event, I expect that he would deny any involvement in Lumumba's murder.Others have commented on the evenhandedness with which the film "Lumumba" treats the parties concerned: Lumumba-supporters, other Congolese, even Belgians. A somewhat more sinister view emerges, I think, from the BBC documentary entitled "Who Killed Lumumba?", based on the book "The Murder of Lumumba" by Belgian historian Ludo de Witte. When examined closely, these films demonstrate that the fate of Lumumba and the history of the Congo is not just a matter of black and white. Only Lumumba's murderers believe that.

AnonII I just saw this movie last night, 2/21/02, on HBO TV in New York and noticed a fascinating and rare bit of censorship within it. In one late scene in the movie when Congo politicians and 1-2 Americans meet around table and vote whether Lumumba is to be captured/killed, the apparent American, perhaps a CIA officer, is addressed by Gen. Mobutu and asked how he wants to vote. But the American's name uttered by Mobutu is bleeped out in the televised version I saw and heard. Then in the film's final credits, this same character's name is masked over and appears only as "Mr......" played by actor Dennis Thatcher. So what IS the name of the mysterious man, no doubt too accurately identified, in this movie, airing on American TV some 2 years after it was made.

Tracy Allard It is always great to see a movie that teaches us about history in Africa as they are definitely too few. However, the movie depicts Lumumba as a political leader who wanted the new independent country to be the same as the old colonialist one..., I felt it hard to sympathise with this kind of leadership, yet the movie is somewhat like a homage to the man. There was too little content, explaining how the man got to rise in the first place, and the whole context of Belgium "letting them go". So it is certainly worth going to see as the acting and photography are excellent, especially Mobutu himself. I would just have liked a better political analysis.